Monday, March 10, 2008

Midwinter Meltdown II

On an open rubbery track, mad-donne made its debut in the world of Ultimate.

Due to other track events in the morning, the tournament started late in the day. A hockey tournament raised parking prices; construction and one-way streets made finding the field house tricky. We arrived, signed waivers, stretched and sized up our competition. The cities benefit from having a number of small schools with teams readily available. Iowa State seemed to be the only team that rivaled us for distance.

Our first game was against St. Thomas Alumni. They were an incredibly tall team. At least three of their players looked to be over 6 feet, but I could be exaggerating. What they had in height, we made up for in legs. I cannot tell you how exciting it was to watch us out on the field for the first time. With only 5-on-5, the field was less crowded than it will be later in the season, so we were able to spread out and make cuts one at a time. Two handlers stayed back to work it up the field while "in on the open side, out on the break side" remained a simple, but effective method for getting open. St. Thomas Alum beat us, but we came away ready for more.

Our second and third games were against Minnesota-B and a "high school" team. The second team was listed as being from a particular high school in the area, but it was clear that this was more of an alumni reunion team. Also, they hucked it all the time. Goodness. We gave both teams well-fought games with hucks, quick throws, and good hands all across the field. At one point, Lisa Woodson even bid for a disc across the hard ground. Amazing. Decision making skills are looking great, so mastering the simple fundamentals of throwing to open space and pancaking the disc will be our focus in practices.

We had a couple of long breaks during which some people studied, some threw around, and some watched the games.... T Floberg's parents supplied us with juice and food which was SO INCREDIBLE. Thank you!

Our final game of the day was against Macalester in the chumpianship bracket. T was injured and taking stats and we were starting to tire from the long day of indoor Ultimate. Corinne and myself ended up playing more this game, but only "cheated" (i.e. she threw to me for a score) once. Cuts were looking great this game with mad-donne women getting open at will. With our handlers more and more comfortable with hucking as well as with throwing quick passes in the lane, we were starting to gel as a team. The Macalester women could tell that they were being outplayed and began to make frustrated throws which our defense ate up. I don't remember the final score, but it felt great to win. I can't even wait until Illinois to get outside and watch everyone lay out. :)

In the evening, we showered and T's parents gave us pizza and beds (thanks again!). We took one more trek out into the cold for fresh ice cream before heading back to sleep and dream of handblocks and floaty hucks.

This weekend: If You Huck It They Will Come in Macomb, IL. After a couple weeks of no disc, how'll we do? Better hit this gym this week..... :)